Target and Apple dominate mobile shopping

Target was the most-browsed mobile app/site in 2013, and Apple’s mobile app/site is where consumers purchase the most, according to a new study from Mobiquity.

Compared to Mobiquity’s 2012 study of retail brands’ mobile apps and sites, the volume of mobile shopping has increased significantly in 2013, in some cases even tripling. For example, in 2012, 14% of consumers shopped at Apple using smartphones; in 2013, this soared to 49%. But mobile browsing does not always lead to mobile shopping — after browsing retailers’ mobile apps and sites, 35% of consumers went on to complete their purchase in-store. Fewer than 16% completed purchases on smartphones. Forty percent did not complete a purchase after browsing on a mobile device.

“The Mobile Shopping Satisfaction Report,” an independent study commissioned by Mobiquity, also found that, of the top 20 retailers, the mobile experience at Apple Stores, Best Buy and Kohl’s ranked highest for satisfaction among consumers shopping via smartphones and tablets. However, the study also revealed that these retailers’ apps and mobile sites are often slow to load, challenging to navigate and error-prone at checkout.

In other findings:

Forty-one percent of smartphone owners and 43% of tablet owners claimed that they would be less likely to shop at a retailer if they had a poor experience using their mobile app or mobile website.

Fifty percent of shoppers complained that shopping on retailers’ tablet apps involves too many steps; and 49% said they couldn’t find the products they were looking for on retailers’ tablet sites,

Images were too difficult to see on 41% of smartphone sites and 35 35%of retailers’ smartphone apps.

Only 9% respondents think that the mobile shopping experience is better than online. By contrast, 35% think it is worse.

“Mobile shopping has grown exponentially year-on-year but the mobile experience still has a long way to go before it comes close to matching or surpassing online shopping,” said Andrew Hiser, chief creative officer, Mobiquity. “Until retailers fix their design and UX issues, they will continue to leave money on the table.”

INSIGHTS

SPECIAL REPORTS

Retailer Today’s Best Retailers to Work With special report is now available. We surveyed more than 330 supplier company representatives for this first-of-its-kind research project, and the results are fascinating. Suppliers shared their views about major industry issues and perceptions of the business practices of top trading partners in the areas of leadership, strategy, collaboration and execution.